


in another life

by acchikocchi



Category: Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, Gen, World Cup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 18:15:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1788511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acchikocchi/pseuds/acchikocchi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The funny thing that they mention on all the geinoukai shows later, when the national team is everywhere on television in the wake of the historic World Cup run, is that he was a Johnny's for a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in another life

**Author's Note:**

> Written a couple years ago and never posted; suddenly timely again. Originally for [zeldas](http://zeldas.livejournal.com). ガンバレ日本。

The funny thing that they mention on all the geinoukai shows later, when the national team is everywhere on television in the wake of the historic World Cup run, is that he was a Johnny's for a while. Less than two years -- he made the tryouts for Funabashi High School's soccer team and that was that. They show pictures of him as a scrawny kid with bad hair and huge caterpillar brows and a big stupid grin and even the nice young cohost giggles behind her hand. Kame laughs, too, because he would have been a terrible idol. He can't even sing.

His freshman year they come runners-up in the winter Kokuritsu; his second, they're champions. Kame starts every game from the third round onward on the left wing. He scores in the semifinal to seal their 2-0 victory over Kagoshima Jitsugyo and nearly breaks something when his teammates pile on top of him. His third year, he does: his ankle, a month before the tournament. Funabashi loses 1-0 to Hiroshima Minami in extra time in the semifinals. Their captain cries. Kame, watching from the sidelines, doesn't.

He clamps down on his disappointment and signs a contract with Shimizu S-Pulse's youth team. If he works hard enough, he'll make it anyway. That's what he tells himself, every morning, every practice, every kick. It pays off when a season-ending injury on the first team gets him called up. He sits through five matches on the bench before he's finally subbed in for the first time; Shimizu is losing 3-0 to Gamba Osaka and Kame figures the manager's resting players for the derby with Jubilo Iwata the next weekend. It's the 76th minute.

They don't win; they don't draw. But the final score is 3-2, and Kame set up the first and scored the second, a beautiful volley from ten yards out. (He never makes those kind of goals, not even in training -- but this time he had nothing to lose.) The single question dominating the post-match press conference is who Kamenashi is, where he came from. He's subbed in again two games later, and then again. The week after that, their manager tells him he's going to start.

It's at the expense of a couple older players, and for a while training is uncomfortable. Kame doesn't care. He'll work harder. 

The opening match of the next season, Kame's on the starting sheet.

After that, it's history: Shimizu's first league title, their second league title, the national side, the transfer to Stuttgart, the Asian Cup, the transfer to Chelsea, the World Cup, Japan's first World Cup semifinal in history. 

A Johnny's group does the World Cup image song: Road to Victory or Road to the Sky or something like that. Kame finds himself humming it while he brushes his teeth. It's awfully catchy. He absentmindedly mimics a couple of the dance moves while he rummages through a drawer, then catches sight of his reflection in the mirror and bursts out laughing.

He really would have been a terrible idol.


End file.
